IEEE 1394 specifies a standard for a high performance serial bus (hereinafter the "1394 bus"). The 1394 bus uses a generic data transfer protocol to facilitate communication among nodes. One of the intended uses of the 1394 bus is to transfer data, and to be used in conjunction with legacy data transfer protocols. Using a legacy data transfer protocol and transport layer is advantageous because existing hardware and software already support them.
A problem arises in that the generic data transfer protocol employed by the 1394 bus is incompatible with all legacy data transfer protocols.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new data transfer protocol tailored for the 1394 bus that encapsulates legacy protocols for usage in conjunction with the 1394 bus.